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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23417845">What Happens In Baku...</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamoShampioni/pseuds/SamoShampioni'>SamoShampioni</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Björkman's Empire [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Eurovision Song Contest RPF, Music RPF, Real Person Fiction</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Eurovision, Eurovision Song Contest 2012, Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2013-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2013-05-02</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 09:06:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,863</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23417845</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SamoShampioni/pseuds/SamoShampioni</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>That was it, the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku was nearly over. The voting had just finished. The night had gone well, and now they had their winner. Right now, they were celebrating. But none of them knew what was about to happen next.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Björkman's Empire [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/40606</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>What Happens In Baku...</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>That was it, the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Baku was nearly over. The voting had just finished. The night had gone well, and now they had their winner. Right now, they were celebrating. But none of them knew what was about to happen next.<br/>
"Amazing," said Eldar, one of the hosts and one of the winners of the 2011 contest, "We are nearly finished here tonight, but can I just give another huge congratulations to our winners, Russia? Congratulations, Buranovskiye Babushki!"<br/>
In first place, Russia, Buranovskiye Babushki with 'Party for Everybody.' It had won by a small margin. Closely behind in second place, was Serbia, Željko Joksimović, with his song 'Nije ljubav stvar.' He had also come second back in 2004 so it was fitting to get the same place again. The race had been close between Russia and Serbia all night. No other country was close to them on the scoreboard.<br/>
Trailing far behind those two, in third place, was Sweden, Loreen, with the song Euphoria. That had been a big shock to a lot of people, since Sweden had been one of the huge favourites to win the contest. Most countries would be happy with third place at an event like this, but the Swedish delegation could barely hide their disappointment. Loreen seemed happy enough though, she had wanted to showcase her song to Europe and that's exactly what she got.<br/>
All the Eurovision artists of 2012 stood on the stage to give one final bow to the audience before the winning song, 'Party for Everybody,' was to be performed again. But it wouldn't go to plan. Some of the entrants noticed that something wasn't quite right. Rambo Amadeus walked over to where the three hosts were.<br/>
"Guys," Rambo said, "Who is that?"<br/>
"Huh," Eldar looked over to where Rambo was pointing, "I don't know."<br/>
"Should he even be on here with us?" Kaliopi asked.<br/>
"No way," said Can Bonomo, "I've never seen that person before."<br/>
The other contestants started to look over too. There was someone there on the stage with them. Someone who wasn't supposed to be there. Pastora Soler just hoped it was a harmless stage invasion like back in 2010, and not something more serious. The man noticed the other contestants looking at him, and then walked over to Eldar and pulled the microphone out of his hands.<br/>
"Hey!" Eldar yelled, "What do you think you're doing? Stop!"<br/>
The cheering stopped. Loreen knew exactly who the mysterious person was.<br/>
"Christer?" Loreen asked.<br/>
It was indeed Christer Björkman. Björkman had been working on Melodifestivalen, Sweden's Eurovision selection, until he had been kicked from the team for arriving late to work constantly and not doing his job. His accreditation to be at the Eurovision Song Contest had been removed at the same time. And yet here he was at the contest anyway. Swedish media outlets at the time reported that he had been preoccupied with something. Now they are all about to find out what.<br/>
"Yes indeed," Christer said, "I am here to announce that Sweden is now the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. Russia, you are now in second place, and Serbia, you are now in third place."<br/>
"Uh, but you can't do that?" Eldar said. Christer ignored him and turned to the crowd.<br/>
"Sweden is now the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012!" Christer yelled into the microphone.<br/>
The audience booed. They hadn't voted for Sweden to win. What was going on?<br/>
Christer laughed as he looked over at where Buranovskiye Babushki were standing.<br/>
"Better luck next time, ladies," Christer smirked.<br/>
The Russian grandmothers didn't seem to know what was going on, although they looked worried. Željko figured they probably needed their interpreter to understand what was happening so he took it upon himself as the entrant who had placed second to stop this nonsense.<br/>
Željko walked over to where Christer was. Why should he lose his second place, or Russia lose their first place? Why should the results of Eurovision be changed because someone walked onto the stage? This couldn't be allowed to happen.<br/>
"Stop it," Željko said.<br/>
"Oh, what are you doing?" Christer asked, "You should accept that Sweden has won already."<br/>
"No, actually," Željko said, "Russia won, and I am second. You can't do this! We don't have to accept anything! Now get off the stage!"<br/>
Christer just laughed.<br/>
"I thought someone might stand against me," Christer said.<br/>
Christer reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun, and that's when the atmosphere really changed. That was when things really got serious. That was when Željko realised he had made a huge mistake. The other contestants looked across the arena, looking for any sign of the security guards, but there was nothing. Where were they? Some of the contestants looked back to the door of the green room, but robots were now guarding it. It looked like there was truly now way out.<br/>
"Uh oh," Christer smirked, "Nothing to say now, hmmm?"<br/>
"I-I'm sorry," Željko said, "S-Sweden won... I accept it..."<br/>
"Hmm, you didn't before though," Christer said, "And I need to show Europe what happens to people who won't accept the Swedish victory."<br/>
"Please, of course I accept it!"<br/>
"Oh dear," Christer laughed, "Do not cry, Mr. Joksimović. You should have accepted the Swedish victory when you had the chance. It's your own fault."<br/>
"N-no, I do accept it. 100%!"<br/>
At that Loreen rushed over. She wasn't going to stand by as Christer threatened the other contestants. She couldn't let him hurt people here. She wouldn't let that happen. How could she just watch while he did this? She couldn't.<br/>
"No! Stop! Don't do this! I won't let you!" Loreen said, and she stood in front of Željko. Christer pointed the gun at the floor and seemed a little surprised. Loreen had really stood up to him? He hadn't expected that. He was doing this for her, for Sweden. Couldn't she see that? Didn't she want to win this?<br/>
"Hmm? My winner," Christer said, "Don't worry, it looks like Serbia now accepts our victory. So since you want to protect these people I will accept that. Now then..."<br/>
Christer then turned to where Eldar was standing and pointed the gun at him.<br/>
"You must now announce that Sweden has won the Eurovision Song Contest," Christer said, handing the microphone over to Eldar. This was a disaster. Eldar didn't want to announce it, but what choice did he have?<br/>
"I... uh... yes, of course," Eldar said, "Congratulations to Sweden... the winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012..."<br/>
Christer's smile faded.<br/>
"You can say it a bit more enthusiastically than that surely!" Christer yelled.<br/>
"O-of course," Eldar said, "Congratulations to Sweden! The winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 2012!"<br/>
The audience went silent. At that moment the doors around the stadium burst open, and robots began to fly into the stadium. Robots? A live TV feed in the arena showed that the robots were outside the stadium too. Some of the audience turned to run away but were stopped by the robots and lead back to their seats.<br/>
"My precious creations," Christer said, "Now Europe will see the true power of Sweden. The true power of Björkman! And now it's time for the winner's performance! Loreen, take it away!"<br/>
Loreen just stood there.<br/>
"I don't want to," Loreen said.<br/>
But Loreen had shown Christer her what he considered a weakness. She wanted to protect other people. And he could use that to get her to do what he wanted.<br/>
"Now now Loreen," Christer grinned, "You can perform your song again or I can have my robots start shooting the other contestants one by one... how about that?"<br/>
The other contestants started to panic.<br/>
"I..." Loreen was shocked, "I'll do the song. Just don't hurt them, please."<br/>
Christer laughed again. The other entrants were sent into the green room as Loreen performed her Eurovision entry again to a silent audience. Loreen didn't want to perform, but she felt like she had to. If not for herself, for the other contestants. When she was finished, Christer came out onto the stage again.<br/>
"How dare you be quiet!" Christer said, "Applaud! Applaud for your winner or else!"<br/>
The audience cheered. It wasn't a sincere cheer, but it would have to do.<br/>
"My robots are also at the EBU headquarters," Christer explained, "And they will accept Sweden's victory. Or else."<br/>
The EBU did indeed accept Sweden's victory, and the results were changed. Sweden had stolen the victory at gunpoint. On his return to Sweden, Christer moved onto his next project. Taking over the entire country of Sweden. Now that he had his robots, nothing could stand in his way.</p><p>---</p><p>Christer had gone back to Sweden already, but the mood in the Eurovision hotel was tense. It had only been one day since the contest, but already everything had completely changed. Loreen had been by herself for most of the time after the contest. She hoped that none of the other contestants blamed her for what had happened at the contest, but she couldn't help but feel that some of them did. Suddenly, she heard footsteps behind her. It was Željko.<br/>
"Hey, Loreen," he said, "Thank you."<br/>
"Oh, hey Željko," Loreen said, "It was nothing, don't mention it."<br/>
"Ha, it wasn't nothing," Željko said, "There's not a lot of people who are brave enough to stand in front of a gun like you did. You really saved me back there."<br/>
Loreen smiled. It was the first time another contestant had spoken to her since the incident. But then her smile faded.<br/>
"They all must hate me," Loreen said, "They all must blame me for what happened. They won't talk to me."<br/>
"They don't," Željko said, "They really don't. They all know it's not your fault. They just don't know what to say to you."<br/>
Loreen looked out the window. They were really avoiding her just because they didn't know what to say? She wasn't sure if that was even worse than them actually blaming her.<br/>
"Come on," Željko said, "Later one there's going to be a leaving party before we all go home. We've got all sorts of party food down in the hotel lobby. Come join us later and we'll all forget about this mess for a while."<br/>
Loreen grinned. That was the best news she'd heard in a while.<br/>
"That sounds good to me, see you later Željko."</p><p>---</p><p>It was a few days later now. Christer Björkman was now the new leader of Sweden, which he had begun calling 'Björkman's Empire.' The EBU was in crisis. The Eurovision victory had been stolen, and now Sweden was going to host the 2013 event.<br/>
As the 2012 contestants headed back to their own countries, they just hoped that things would go back to normal as soon as possible. But they knew that they probably wouldn't. They knew that the peaceful Sweden was gone, and that 'Björkman's Empire' stood in its place. They just hoped that they would be allowed to live in peace, that this mess wouldn't touch them. But they couldn't even be sure of that.</p>
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